How to respond to how are you. How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?" and other similar questions. Hi! What's up? - "What's new?"

- short, non-committal conversations, including with strangers, for example, in an elevator or in lines. To start a conversation, people ask familiar questions like “How’re you?” or "How's going".

Do you know how to answer them? Of course, “I’m fine” - after all, it’s not customary to complain, and no one is interested in your affairs and worries. But you can come up with something else, add variety to the standard answer.

How are you?

  • fine. Brevity is the soul of wit. By limiting yourself to one “fine”, you give a clear signal that you do not intend to continue the conversation.
  • Not bad. Sounds a little friendlier.
  • fine, thanks. It's a formal answer - just right for a stranger like a waiter in a restaurant.
  • Very well, thanks. Perfectly correct answer in terms of grammar, because the question “how” suggests an adverb answer. Although, in general, few people worry about this, except that the English “grammar Nazis” may insist on observing this rule.
  • Pretty good. Let's forget about grammar, long live the living language and everyday “good” and “pretty good”.
  • Great! How are you doing? A full positive answer and mirroring the question to the interlocutor - let him answer now, and then, you see, and the conversation will start.
  • I "m hanging in there. So you can say if the day turned out to be difficult.
  • I "ve been better. Yes, the answers are not always positive, there are black bars in life. If the answer sounds sad, then this implies that you want to tell your sad story, so the next question will probably be “What's wrong?” - and your time will come to complain to the whole world.

How's it going?

It is no different from “how’re you”, respectively, you can safely use all of the above. But there is one exception answer that only works for this case:

  • It's going well. Friendly and polite, suitable for colleagues, clients and distant acquaintances.

What's up?

This question in expanded form sounds like “What's happening in your life?” Naturally, an honest story about the latest events in your life is not required - a short question still requires a short answer, perhaps one of these:

  • Nothing much. The most popular answer, because most of the time nothing interesting happens. Although you can answer like this: “Nothing much. Just preparing to great weekend party”.
  • Not a lot. Same “nothing special”, just a little different.
  • nothing. This answer sounds a bit annoyed, perhaps rude.
  • Oh, just the usual. It can be used if everything is absolutely the same and there is nowhere to expect diversity.
  • Just the same old same old. The same routine without a glimmer of novelty. The difference with this answer is in demonstrating that you are a little bored with all this.
  • Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff! If the number of interesting events in your life rolls over, answer like this.

Today we will talk about different ways how to ask "How are you?" on English language . English has a large number of such phrases. Today we will study the most commonly used of them.

How to ask "How are you?" in English

How are you? How are you The most used, common phrase in English.

How are you doing? How are you doing?

How is it going? How are you doing? Used with people you already know quite well.

What's going on? - What's going on here?

What's happening? What's going on? Similar to the phrase "What; s going on?".

How have you been? How are you doing? In this question, it is understood how your affairs were until we communicated with you.

What have you been up to? What did you do? In the question, we ask what the person was doing while we did not see him. To be up to phrasal verb) - to start, intend.

Are you well? Are you okay?

What "s up? How are you? Informal expression. Used among close friends.

What's new? What's new?

How are you feeling? How do you feel? Such a question is not always appropriate. Most often it is asked to a person who has experienced something or who may have health problems.

How "s life? How is life?

Now consider various options answers to this question.

We answer the question "How are you?" in English

fine, thanks. And you? Great, thanks. And you? Usually, people ask “How are you?” out of politeness, so you will often see such a short answer.

Very well, thanks. Very good thanks.

pretty good. Pretty good (not bad).

OK. Fine.

Great! Great!

Not bad. Not bad.

So-so. So-so.

I "ve been better. It used to be better.

Not so good. Not very good.

I "m hanging in there. I'm holding on. Colloquial form. It means that things are going badly, but I'm holding on.

How "s life? How is life?

How's it hanging? How are you? Found in spoken English.

And finally, we will analyze the answers to such questions as: what "s going on? what" s happening? what's new?

"What "s up?" is a fashionable form of greeting, especially among young people. It is very popular in the USA, and from there it has spread around the world. Americans themselves do not really know what to say in response, because there are no established rules and traditions yet. But at the same time, it is considered that using such a greeting is "cool". , there is hope that soon it will be reduced to "P?", and then completely disappear.

At its core, this is the question "What's going on with you?" or "What do you do in Lately?", and sometimes it is used like this, saying: "Hi, guys! What's up? But it is also used as a greeting, especially in the US. Like the old English greeting, which is still used in a very formal setting - "How do you do?" But a tradition has already developed there, and this question is answered with the same greeting question - "How do you do?"

In the case of "What's up?", there is no such tradition. Americans offer different options. You can simply answer "Hello!", Or "Hi!", Or "Hey!", That is, a greeting for a greeting, but it will not look "cool".

You can answer "Nothing much." If a guy responds to a girl's greeting, you can say "Not much, until you came around." You can say "Everything is down, and what about you?". The short version is "Not much. You?"

Some answer literally (like, humor, like, they thought the question was about what's up there) - "The sky." or "The ceiling.". More options from this series - "I don" t know. I"ve never been there." or "I don"t know, don"t have time to look up."

Judging by the above, personal creativity in response to such a greeting is by no means forbidden.

Have you noticed that all conversations among English speakers begin with the phrases “How are you?”, “What’s up?”, “How’s it going?” and so on. However, not everyone knows how to answer these questions correctly. In this article, you will find enough information and learn how to easily, almost automatically select the right words and expressions to answer the main greeting phrases-questions of the interlocutor.

How to answer How are you?

Here you have a lot of options, it all depends on the current state of affairs, since this question translates to “How are you (are you)?” or "How are you?" Therefore, answer exactly how you are doing. And in English it might look like this:

Fine. Great.

The simplest and most direct answer. If you limit yourself to just this word, then the interlocutor may decide that you are not going to continue the conversation with him. In general, now you understand how to respond to show that you are not in the mood to talk to a certain person.

Not bad. Not bad.

This answer already sounds more friendly than "fine".

fine, thanks. Excellent thank you.

This is a formal answer. This way you can respond to someone you don't know. For example, a waiter in a restaurant.

Very well, thanks. Very good thanks.

A person who loves all sorts of grammatical norms and rules is likely to answer that way. From a technical point of view, the question "How ...?" (How ...?) you need to answer with an adverb. However, many English speakers, simply put, do not care. Those who are used to following everything that is written in textbooks insist on the use of grammatically correct constructions.

pretty good. Pretty good.

If grammar is somehow on your drum, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". This is the more common and much more natural answer. That is exactly what most ordinary people say.

Great! How are you doing? Amazing! And how are you?

This is such a rather enthusiastic and joyful response. If you want to continue the conversation, it is always better to ask counter questions to the interlocutor.

I'm hanging in there. So-so (neither bad nor good).

So you can answer if you had a hard day.

I've been better. It's been better.

A: How are you? How are you?

B: I've been better . It's been better.

A: What's wrong? What's wrong? (What's happened?)

B: I just found out that I'm being laid off. I just found out that I was fired.

How to answer a question How's it going?

This question is similar to "How are you?". The meaning is the same - "How are things going?". All of the answers discussed above also apply to "How's it going?".

And here is another answer to the question “How’s it going?”, Which is no longer suitable for “How are you?”.

It's going well. Everything is fine. (Verb.: it's going well).

This is a friendly and correct answer, which is suitable for colleagues, clients and acquaintances whom you have not seen for a while.

How to answer What's up?

This is probably one of the most difficult questions for those who study English, because so many people are interested in how to answer it correctly.

It is similar to the question "What's happening in your life?" (What is going on in your life?). But no one is forcing you to be honest. If you don't want to have a long conversation, you can use one of the standard responses:

nothing much . Nothing special.

This is the most common option. You can supplement it with some interesting details that occur (if any). For example, " Nothing much. Just getting ready for Tom's graduation(Nothing special, just getting ready for Tom's graduation).

Not a lot.

This is another very common answer. The meaning is the same, but it's a little fresher than "Nothing much" because it's used a little less frequently.

nothing. Nothing.

As short and specific as possible. You may sound rude or angry when you answer like this.

Oh, just the usual. Everything is as usual.

Answer like this if you do the same thing every day, and nothing, in principle, changes.

Just the same old same old. Everything is the same, everything is the same.

This expression means that you are doing the same thing every day, and you are a little tired of it.

Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff! Yes, a whole lot!

You have been very busy and something interesting has happened in your life recently.

How to answer a question What's happening?

This question means the same as What's up?, so the answers to it can be used the same as discussed above.

Now you know many answers to basic welcome questions in English. You can use any of them according to the situation. Don't forget that you can improvise and come up with your own answers, because no one likes "robots" that communicate in a learned pattern. No one is forcing you to speak using only a certain set of words. We are all human and we talk the way we want.

But still, consider grammatical rules and norms in certain situations, do not overdo it with naturalness. In everyday friendly conversations, all the rules are sometimes forgotten, so don't be surprised to hear another new phrase or word. Just try to grasp the general concept, and then everything will go by itself.

25 Fri

We offer some thoughts on this matter.
"What's up?" is a fashionable form of greeting, especially among young people. It is very popular in the USA, and from there it has spread around the world. The Americans themselves do not really know what to say in response, because there are no established rules and traditions yet. But at the same time, it is considered that it is “cool” to use such a greeting. And many already lack this coolness, and they distort it in different ways - “Wassup?”, “Wazzup?”, “Sup?” If this trend continues, there is hope that it will soon be reduced to "P?", and then completely disappear.

At its core, this is the question "What's going on with you?" or “What are you doing lately?”, but in use it is a greeting. Like the old English greeting, which is still used in a very formal setting - "How do you do?" But a tradition has already developed there, and this question is answered with the same greeting question - “How do you do?”

In the case of "What's up?" there is no such tradition. Americans offer different options. You can just respond with "Hello!" or "Hi!" or "Hey!", that is, a hello to a hello, but it won't look "cool".

You can answer "Nothing much." If a guy responds to a girl's greeting, you can say "Not much, until you came around." You can say "Everything is donw, and what about you?". The short version is “Not much. you?”

Some answer literally (like, humor, like, they thought the question was about what's up there) - "The sky." or "The ceiling." More options from this series - “I don’t know. I've never been there." or "I don't know, don't have time to look up."

Judging by the above, personal creativity in response to such a greeting is by no means forbidden.

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